FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a portion of a prior art 3GPP wireless network. In 3GPP wireless networks, path switch coordination is accomplished via the sending of an “end-marker” that indicates no further packets will be sent on a path. An end-marker is sent in order to assist the packet reordering function in the target base station (e.g., enhanced NodeB also referred to as eNodeB or eNB). The serving gateway (SGW) for inter-eNB handoffs sends the end-marker whenever the serving eNB changes for a radio access bearer (RAB). In the 3GPP implementation, the “end-marker” is a message signaled in the GPRS tunneling protocol (GTP) header and the packet does not contain user data. When the SGW changes, the packet gateway (PGW), which communicates user data from a content source, sends an end-marker message to the SGW via the GTP-U S5/S8 interface. Upon reception of an end-marker message, the eNB or SGW may release the bearer plane resources for that leg.